Research
User interviews
Field observations
Urban context analysis
User journey mapping
Persona development
Problem framing
Insight analysis and synthesis
Strategy
Brand strategy
Human-centered design
Wayfinding logic
Design & Production
Brand identity
Wireframing
UX design
UI design
Urban design
Platforms
Urban space
Environmental design
Year
2023
Credits
Africa Design School
Ahyi Shaneen – Spatial Designer
Grâce Kpomassi – Spatial Designer
Ruben Dangbegnon – UX Designer & Illustrator
Stanislas Avahouin – Layout Artist
The story starts in Cotonou.
The kind of place where energy pulses through crowded markets, motorbikes hum non-stop, and the sun hits the pavement with heat and purpose.
Right in the heart of it all lies Dantokpa — the largest open-air market in West Africa. Every day, thousands flow in and out, hustling, bartering, moving. But right next to this powerhouse of life?
Dantokpa
A triangle-shaped piece of land… completely abandoned.
Once a busy bus station, it had become nothing but concrete, trash, and silence.
No structure. No use. No soul.
So when the Ministry of Living Environment launched a hackathon during the International Forum on Urban Development, asking designers to rethink this dead space, we knew we had something big in our hands.
Not just a challenge —
An opportunity to prove how design could reshape the narrative of African cities.
Before even touching a screen or pen, we stepped right into the dust and noise of the site — because the answers were already there. You just had to ask the right people.
First move: back to the research.
That said, we weren’t improvising: we had done some preliminary research on the space and prepared an interview guide. We're curious, not careless.
We conducted 10 interviews with people who live, work, and move around the site daily:
Motorcycle taxi drivers (Zemidjans)
Street food sellers
Market vendors
Informal currency changers
Local policemen
Local sanitation officers
How the space is (not) being used
What problems people encounter daily
What “value” this space could offer to them
What they wish they had access to
We gathered notes, recorded voices, took photos, and then transcribed everything.
From there, we ran a ground-up qualitative analysis to extract recurring themes, pain points, and unexpected insights.
A few highlights that hit us hard:
“The site was originally used as a parking lot, and it was under the President's orders that they broke up the park. There's nothing left here, and it's the perfect place to get mugged. ”
POLICEMAN
“Since the eviction operations, the site has remained unused. The site is cleaned more than 3 times a day, but is still dirty. There are no public toilets, which is a real problem and contributes to the area's insalubrity.”
PASSER-BY
"Before there was movement. Now it's dead. WE COULD MAKE IT a tourist spot, a restaurant, bring people back, a bit like the Amazon, a landmark to enhance the market."
SANITATION OFFICER
Reconnect the site with its environment
Activate it with services that bring real value
Merge tradition and modernity in an African context
With all of that, we ran multiple brainstorming sessions with the team — throwing ideas, sketching concepts, crossing out the obvious, digging into the radical.
And out of that chaos came clarity.
We called it: Dantokpa Green Tech Park — a bold and modern space that merges greenery, digital innovation, and urban fluidity.
Our mission was simple:
Give the space back to the people, and make it matter again.
Not by copying global models.
But by building something rooted in local rhythm and future ambition.
We imagined a two-part ecosystem:
The green oasis
A soft, shaded haven amid the city chaos.
Solar-powered charging stations
Free, fast Wi-Fi for vendors and visitors
Comfortable zones to sit, relax, connect
The zmart parking zone
A seamless system for Cotonou’s two-wheeled flow.
Badge and fingerprint-secured access
Digital check-in/out
Clear signage to reduce street clutter
This wasn’t just beautification. It was about reprogramming the space to work for the community — practically, emotionally, and economically.
I led the UX direction of the project — crafting how people move, interact, and experience the park.
From the user research to the problem framing, from the personas to the wayfinding, from the spatial mapping to the UI prototypes — I was on the ground and in the flow.
And because the park needed a strong identity, I also shaped its visual universe:
A vibrant, clean logo that echoes growth and technology
A color palette rooted in nature and modernity
Typography that speaks clarity, accessibility, and progress
The result? A space that feels alive — even in prototype form.
The outcome: first place, big plans.
Our concept won 1st place at the hackathon — recognized for its innovation, user-focus, and implementation potential. The Ministry didn’t just applaud — they expressed real interest in taking it further.
We’re now exploring ways to scale the concept to other neglected zones in Bénin.
But for us, the true win was showing what’s possible when urban design, technology, and people-first thinking collide.
